Path: ...!3.eu.feeder.erje.net!feeder.erje.net!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: "Evelyn C. Leeper" Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.fandom Subject: MT VOID, 06/14/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 50, Whole Number 2332 Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2024 10:12:37 -0400 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 324 Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Injection-Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2024 16:12:38 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="e9bf8e3bc47b5acd4435a9161c5592c6"; logging-data="89322"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+2bSnYjd1OPKnOPaLuhaWe" User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird Cancel-Lock: sha1:a6nfKoqjYo+NEQq8NSXJHvhAhWQ= Content-Language: en-US Bytes: 15422 THE MT VOID 06/14/24 -- Vol. 42, No. 50, Whole Number 2332 Co-Editor: Mark Leeper, mleeper@optonline.net Co-Editor: Evelyn Leeper, eleeper@optonline.net Sending Address: evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com All material is the opinion of the author and is copyrighted by the author unless otherwise noted. All comments sent or posted will be assumed authorized for inclusion unless otherwise noted. To subscribe or unsubscribe, send mail to eleeper@optonline.net The latest issue is at . An index with links to the issues of the MT VOID since 1986 is at . Topics: Mini Reviews, Part 26 (MOEBIUS, S1M0NE, STRAWBERRY MANSION) (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper) Word Use and Mis-Use (letters of comment by Jim Susky and Larry Kaniut) This Week's Reading (FAMILIAR LETTERS OF JOHN ADAMS AND HIS WIFE ABIGAIL ADAMS) (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper) =================================================================== TOPIC: Mini Reviews, Part 26 (film reviews by Mark R. Leeper and Evelyn C. Leeper) This is the twenty-sixth batch of mini-reviews, all films of the fantastic. MOEBIUS (1996): I watched MOEBIUS the other day, albeit under less than ideal conditions. First of all, it was on YouTube, so was interrupted for commercials every fifteen minutes or so. And second, it was in Spanish. It did have subtitles (well, closed captions), but they were also in Spanish and apparently auto-generated, since some words were missing, particularly proper names which were not always recognized as words. The also seemed to be strange abbreviations, such as "hbe" (if I remember correctly) for "hombre". Let's just say if I didn't already know the story, I probably still would not know the story. The story is, of course, "A Subway Named Mobius" by A. J. Deutsch. This may have achieved its greatest fame when it was included in Martin Gardner's FANTASIA MATHEMATICA, although Groff Conklin's OMNIBUS OF SCIENCE FICTION was also widely read. The original story was set on the Boston MTA; the film MOEBIUS, being an Argentinian film, is set on the Buenos Aires Underground (Subterraneo). (In 2014, murals commemorating the film were installed on the wall of the San Jose Station.) The film is fairly accurate for most of the time, but in order to make it feature length, the screenwriters added a long mathematical/philosophical discussion between two topologists. Somehow the subway is outside of time, and travels at the speed of thought, and so on. I cannot claim to have understood everything said, but what I did understand seemed like the usual cliches. There are six screenwriters; this was a film made by a group of film students and their professor. This also explains the cheap budget--US$250,000. The budget necessitating filming in the actual tunnels, which ended up giving the film a great atmosphere. The Catedral station was renamed "Borges" in honor of Jorge Luis Borges, the famous writer from Buenos Aires whose works included many references to mazes and labyrinths. One language note: "sin fin" sounds a whole lot cooler (to me, anyway) than just plain "endless". I would recommend this to anyone who likes mathematical science fiction and can at least somewhat follow the Spanish. It was shown in New York at one point with English subtitles, but I have no idea if that is available anywhere. Released theatrically in Argentina 17 October 1996. Film Credits: What others are saying: S1M0NE (2002): S1M0NE is even more topical now than when it came out in 2002. Then the idea of a computer-generated actor who passed as human was science fiction; now it is more like one of those "day-after-tomorrow" stories (if even that far in the future). Actually, the visual technology of S1m0ne is what is today's technology; her conversation is all produced by someone else speaking in her voice. Today, Viktor would have used A.I. to have S1m0ne carry on her own conversations. But Viktor nailed the current situation in a single line: "Our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it." Released theatrically 23 August 2002. Film Credits: What others are saying: STRAWBERRY MANSION (2021): STRAWBERRY MANSION could have been written by Frederik Pohl or Cyril M. Kornbluth, posibly with a dash of Philip K. Dick. In the future, dreams are taxed, but also, ads are inserted in dreams. (This is not a spoiler--you realize this early on.) But Bella and her husband(?) have invented ... well ... AdBlocker. This is revealed to the taxman who comes to collect the back taxes on Bella's dreams. Because so much of the film shows the dreams of Preble and Bella, there are a lot of surrealistic video effects and situations, and the whole is frequently disorienting (with what appear to be nods to THE FLY and RESURRECTION). The poster makes it look like a children's film, but I would probably call it PG-13 because of some frightening images. Appropriately enough, I watched this on Tubi, an ad-supported streaming service. I'm going out now to buy a Feckle freezer. Released theatrically 18 February 2022. Film Credits: What others are saying: =================================================================== TOPIC: Word Use and Mis-Use (letters of comment by Jim Susky and Larry Kaniut) In response to Evelyn's comments on word use and mis-use in the 05/04/24 issue of the MT VOID, Jim Suskey writes: Sometime last century I read a New Year's review in which certain non-standard (mis-) usages were cited. One I remember--to NOT use "impact" as a verb. This "innovation" has an advantage--often it is a succinct way to replace a multi-syllabic phrase. FORTUITOUS Your opener (2024MAY05) caused me to seek out Merriam-Webster As "dictionarians" must (eventually) do, M-W has bent to fashion, in that they (it?) have (has?) added "fortunate" to Definition #2--stating that this usage as been used in a standard if not elevated fashion since you (and I) were born (!) M-W is NOT OED--only the primary "By chance" sense was documented as "first used" in the mid-17th century. Few of us, I suspect, "read the dictionary"--instead absorbing words by context. 70 years of misuse has firmly implanted the "fortunate" meaning between my ears. DIFFERENCE - ANCESTOR/DESCENDANT At first this "got me going". Then realized that context solves the problem--one (most of us?) would not misuse one for the other in a phrase, sentence, etc. (parent/child anyone?) I am fond of using successor and predecessor but will often pause to get it right. USING PLURAL PRONOUNS IN ALL CONTEXTS This one still ties a knot in my brain. So far I still use the "Queen's English" (now, of course, the King's) to the extent that the leader of a committee is not a piece of furniture. ========== REMAINDER OF ARTICLE TRUNCATED ==========